After a long, painful battle with complex health conditions, William Connelly “Bill” Pendaz, 70, of Champion, MI, died at his home on Monday October 19, 2026.

Bill was born on November 11, 1955, to parents Elinor Myrtle (nee Mickler) and Ned Connelly Pendaz in San Patricio, TX, outside of Corpus Christi. Growing up on the Gulf of Mexico, Bill enjoyed the weather and marine activities that would later be the setting of many of the stories he loved to tell.

Motivated by the G.I. bill, Bill enlisted in the Navy during the conflict in Vietnam, serving from 1973-1975. As he told it, because he joined the military during the Vietnam War, he got to pick his duty station, which was on the Mediterranean on an aircraft carrier, the USS Forrestal. Choosing to enlist during the War was a source of lifelong pride for Bill.

At 26, Bill was diagnosed with terminal cancer. During this time, he had a near death experience that shaped much of his future thinking about life and death. Believing his remission from cancer to be a miracle, Bill quickly became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and remained one for the rest of his life. After remission he was also left with many lifelong consequences from related organ damage and associated secondary health conditions.

On July 26, 1983, Bill married his wife of forty-three years, Ruth Faye Watkins (nee Nissen) on the Black Rocks of Presque Isle in Marquette, MI in an intimate and beautiful outdoor ceremony. For some years following their wedding, Bill and Ruth would often visit Presque Isle and the Black Rocks.

Though he attended college for a time, Bill did not complete his degree and worked various trades over the years. He was a wonderful cook and worked for a time as a short-order cook at Mean Gene’s Lakeside Inn in Sand River, MI and at the Crossroads Restaurant in Marquette, MI. He also worked selling and installing satellite televisions dishes and most recently as an at-home caregiver.

Both a proud Texan and a proud Yooper, Bill deeply loved his father-in-law, John Nissen and John’s Finnish heritage, learning how to say Hyvaa Joulua (“Merry Christmas”) and Onnellista Uutta Vuotta (“Happy New Year”). Bill liked playing card games, pool, the electric guitar, and riding a motorcycle. He was an avid reader of novels, especially Westerns and was a skilled storyteller.

Most of all, Bill was truly one of a kind.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Elinor and Ned, a sister, Dorothea Lee (“Dottie”) Owens, and a brother John Mickler (“Mike”) Pendaz. 

He is survived by a daughter from a prior marriage, Cary Lyn Pendaz, his wife, Ruth Faye Pendaz and their children Sadie (Joseph Richardson) Rose Pendaz-Foster, Faye (Eric) Annette Geary, and Harlan Robert Pendaz, as well as siblings Leona Catherine Sodke, Carol Irene Trimyer, and Celeste Pendaz Lyman, and grandchildren Jered Wilbert Steinke and Autumn Faye Steinke. 

A funeral service will be held at Bjork and Zhulkie Funeral Home on Monday October 26, 2026. Visitation will take place from 10:00am - 11:00am, with the funeral service beginning at 11:00am. Bishop Sargent will conduct the service. 

Burial will take place following the funeral service in the Liminga Cemetery. 

Bjork and Zhulkie Funeral Home is serving the family.